Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Diarrhea can cause distress, especially in young children. It causes parents to worry, too. I should know. A couple weeks back my daughter caught an intestinal virus and suffered for two weeks straight. The poor girl lost weight, visited the doctor and missed several days of preschool. She dealt with it in her own way, by making up a song with the refrain, "DiarrhEEEEEEEEEEEEa, DiarrhEEEEEEEEEEEEa! Oh, oh, oh, DiarrhEEEEEEEEEEEEa!" (While she didn't enjoy the illness at all, she liked saying the funny, new word repeatedly in a loud voice.) Her sickness made us all miserable because it interrupted our lives, schedule and meal plans.

The Moose with Loose Poops picture book by Charlotte Cowan, M.D. discusses the subject of gastroenteritis with humor and kid appeal. A little moose named Miles goes on a picnic with his family and suddenly becomes ill. He throws up and his parents take him home and put him to bed. The next day he suffers from a bout of diarrhea (loose poops) he describes as a "waterfall" coming out of his bottom. As a result of his illness he must postpone a camping trip with his father. His parents show great care and concern for their little moose, and even Miles' sister reassures him that everyone experiences stomach ailments at some point and that he will get better. Mom calls Dr. Hippo and he recommends lots of fluids and no school. Miles recovers after a few days, just in time to go on a special camping trip with his dad.

The book certainly struck a chord with my daughter. She sat and listened to the entire book with great interest and commiserated with Miles, the diarrhea-stricken moose. The Moose with Loose Poops helped her realize that she would get better eventually with proper care and encouraged her to keep drinking fluids. She also learned a new handwashing song she can sing to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star from reading the book. And, of course, she loved the colorful watercolor illustrations by Penelope Neal of the cute moose family.

The unusual title of Cowan's book has garnered some attention. One blogger went as far as calling it the "most disgusting book title ever." Cowan doesn't leave much to the imagination in her title or in the book itself. The main character in the book vomits chunks of hot dog and is depicted sitting on the potty, though he is covered discreetly with toilet paper. But, everything shown is true to life. Nearly all kids I know have encountered some type of virus causing these problems and they can't help but discuss their toilet time. I applaud the author for writing a book that portrays gastroenteritis in an honest, educational and imaginative way children can understand. A separate, laminated parent guide called "Getting Through Gastroenteritis" is included in the back of the book and offers helpful tips for parents on how to cope with gastroenteritis.

To enter, visit Dr. Hippo and leave a comment here telling me which Dr. Hippo book is your favorite.

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Welcome to Brimful Curiosities, where every week is a children's book carnival! This review/giveaway is one of my contributions to the Book Giveaway Carnival, (March 2-8, 2009). Head over there for all the great giveaways this week! And don't forget to enter my other giveaways!

My nieces would love this book, they get thier sense of humor from their dad!!! I feel your pain, I had this same stomach virus around Christmas and was sick for 2 1/2 weeks it was horrible!!! Hope she is feeling better now!!!

My 4 year old would love this. He talks about diareah (correctly) all of the time!Sadie's Sore Throat looks cute too. I would like to see one about growing pains because my son always complains of sore knees.

Oh my goodness, this is my new favorite series! I love them all but I TOTALLY thought The Moose With Loose Poops had to be a fake until I got to actually hold it in my hands. My family has a slightly infantile sense of poo humor so that has to be the one for us! I would love to hear what comes out of my child's mouth after we read THAT as a bedtime story 210 times! =)

I love that someone has written about common health issues with kids and in such an accessible and non-scary way! I would love to read Peeper has a fever. I do have to say that the title of Moose caught my eye and made me chuckle!!

It seems like we get a lot of earaches at our house and I think that the little elephant with a big earache sounds so cute! What a great collection of books! Thanks for the giveaway! audrajjensen(at)msn.com

The Moose with Loose PoopsGreat book! My son loved it! We read it together and I think he really learned about his sickness! He's 6 and learning to read in school right now so hopefully he goes and tells his teacher he helped me read it!!I haven't read any other of Charlotte Cowan's books, but I know they're out there, and I'm sure they're just as good. Keep doing what you do best! This really does help! Thank you!

The little elephant with the the big earache sounds great. I know the book context could be offensive, but as a director of a preschool, this type of book is strongly encouraged. It talks about toileting and also what it means to be sick and ways that it could be prevented (washing hands). Please enter me. We would utilize this book at the school.

ok how interesting...it would make a good book for my nephew..who is recently potty trained..to understand a bit more about everything. I also like The Little Elephant with the Big Earache. Thank you for the giveaway

About Me

Brimful Curiosities is a mom blog/book blog featuring reviews and posts on children's books, music, educational products, toys and more. It's home to the weekly "Full to the Brim" Kid's Book Giveaway List. Occasionally it includes non-children related product and book reviews and personal postings.